CTIP is a joint project of the LCCL and SACBC

Very Young Girls – 2007

Thanks 9to20 blogger, a trafficking survivor, for recommending this film. Carl’s Note: If you’ve done social work or recovery work, you’ll “get” this movie. People, especially kids, who have been traumatized are not easily or casually healed. The good news is that the human psyche CAN recover from trauma and pain. The bad news is that it’s not easy or guaranteed. GEMS is doing the hard work on the support side, and the brave girls who are fighting to escape from “the lifestyle” are doing the hard work on the their side. Many girls are learning to find their voices, their strength, their significance through the inspiration and support of GEMS. I found it both painful and uplifting to watch, and recommend it to others.

Very Young Girls is an exposé of the commercial sexual exploitation of girls in New York City as they are sold on the streets by pimps and treated as adult criminals by police. The film follows barely adolescent girls in real time, using vérité and intimate interviews with them, documenting their struggles and triumphs as they seek to exit the commercial sex industry. The film also uses startling footage shot by pimps themselves, giving a rare glimpse into how the cycle of exploitation begins for many women.

Who We Are

The Counter Trafficking in Persons Office (CTIP) is a joint project of the Leadership Conference of Consecrated Life [LCCL(SA)] and the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC). The original inspiration and promotion of this initiative is due to Constellation Six (C6) – congregations of religious women who have their Generalates in Southern Africa.